But where’s Sarah?

Following his segment, Anchor Brian Williams reported that NBC offered a similar spot to Sarah Palin, but the McCain campaign declined, offering Rudy Giuliani instead. A similar thing happened on CNN, and all of the major networks, except for ABC, which would not interview Biden because Palin was ‘not available.’

Maybe that’s because in the debate, McCain returned to the experience theme and figures American voters aren’t stupid enough to buy that again when reminded of the selection of Palin as his running mate.

But no matter. So where was Sarah Palin while the focus of the political world was on Ole Miss?

Well, she started the night at a private pre-debate party at an Irish bar in Center City Philadelphia. (The party, by the way, closed the bar to customers on a night when the Philadelphia Phillies were battling for a playoff spot, beating the Washington Nationals 8-4 and lowering their magic number to 1 following a Mets loss to Florida.)

It once again raises the question about the selection of Sarah Palin, and whether she is the Gateway Meme that will bring down his campaign.

Palin’s flagging poll numbers suggest that she is the string, once pulled, that unravels the entire McCain candidacy. In the past two weeks, Palin’s favorable rating is down six points (still a pretty high 52), and her unfavorable rating is up 10 points in the same time period.